WEEE management model for emerging countries

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation has teamed up with Dell International to create and implement a sustainable solution model for WEEE management for developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The two organisations will work together for a period of five years, with an option to extend the partnership. The objective of the agreement is to create awareness, build capacity, and engage in knowledge sharing and policy advocacy with regard to sustainable WEEE management

WEEE end-processing standardsformulated

Aurubis, Boliden Group, Glencore, and Umicore have joined forces with the European Electronics Recyclers Association and European Association of Metals to implement WEEE end-processing standards within the next two years. The two groups expect recyclers to reference the standard in their contracts with WEEE take-back systems, WEEE recyclers or end processors.

Aluminium project in China’s Guangxi

Guangxi Wanhai Investment Company has signed an agreement with the government to construct a 50,000 tonne per year aluminium fabricating project at Baise Xinshan Aluminum Industry Demonstration Park in China’s Guangxi province. The estimated cost of the project is CNY500m (£50m). The park holds 38 companies concentrating on aluminium smelting, fabricating, recycling and many more.

Kenyan region to be sued over poor waste management

Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority is to sue the Nyeri county government for violating an agreement to burn medical waste using an incinerator. Investigations revealed excessive amounts of household waste and used syringes and dangerous medical equipment were being sent to the region’s largest landfill.

New use for paper recycling waste

Researchers from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina have developed a potential use for a waste product in the paper recycling process. The scientists have found a way to extract short-chain celluloses from the paper recycling effluent, and turn it into a carboxymethylcellulose.

Thailand urged to encourage investment in EfW plants

Thailand’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONREPP) has urged the government to encourage private firms to invest in energy-from-waste (EfW) plants by offering low-interest loans from an environmental fund. The fund is presently available to state agencies and private manufacturers which need to dispose of waste but ONREPP says it could be made available to waste-management firms and those investing in EfW plants.

US levies import duties on specialised Czech steel

The US Commerce Department has imposed duties on imports of specialised steel from the Czech Republic, saying the goods were being sold too cheaply in the country. Following the decision, grain-oriented electrical steel imports, typically used in transformers, will face duties of up to 35.93%.

China restricts cotton import quotas

China will cut its import quotas for cotton in 2015 to increase demand for the domestic fibre. Non-quota imports are subject to a 40% tariff, and restricted availability of import quotas will reduce domestic demand for foreign cotton. The country’s cotton imports fell by 32% in the current year to three million tonnes.

Dubai Aluminium plans £366m smelter upgrade

Dubai Aluminium plans to spend $600m (£366m) over the next three years to upgrade its smelter. The upgrade will increase output by 100,000 tonnes when completed. The plant currently produces 1.1 million tonnes of aluminium per year.

That was 2018 – the year when China’s ban on most waste material imports really showed how decisions in one country can affect those on the other side of the world, as the UK and others scrambled to find alternative capacity.

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